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How to attach sleeves to a costume bra? Dear Dina: Thank you for all the inspiration and beautiful costumes you have shown me. I have three of your books, and am using them for ideas. My question is about sleeves. I notice in your books that you have some bra costumes that you wear with alternative sleeve styles. Do you permanently affix the sleeves, then undo and replace, or do you use a temporary method - tacking, hooks or velcro? ~Penny (UK) ANSWER: Hooks and velcro
don't work. They come apart I hand-sew sew the sleeves onto the shoulder strap of the bra with large but secure stitches, and pick them off if I want to change them. Only the upper half of the sleeve needs to be sewn. The
lower half is finished neatly with a narrow edging, and left unattached.
You can see this in the picture at left. First, mark the top of the shoulder on the bra strap while wearing it, using a safety pin. Then (after removing the bra of course) position the sleeve cap edge underneath the strap and pin, matching the center of the sleeve cap with the top of the shoulder strap.
With a wide "batwing" sleeve (left) I just sew on the upper half of the sleeve, leaving the long lower half loose to hang freely. It's also easy to sew on gauntlets that are attached with ribbons. Details about various sleeve patterns are in my book #4,
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too
easily, and look bulky. I wouldn't rely on temporary adhesives either.
With
the type of sleeve that's off-the-shoulder and has no cap, I just tack
each point (front and back) with a few stitches (right).